Island of escape Read Online Free

Champagne was ordered, and for the next hour or so Ellis did her best to be light hearted and gay and to make herself good company so that Jake would be satisfied his treatment was effective. At least that man was not there to stare at her and draw
     
    his evil conclusions, she thought, and that in itself was a help.
    `You've enjoyed yourself tonight, haven't you, darling?' Jake said with satisfaction after the little party of four had split up. Sherry and Michael had gone and she and Jake were in the casino, his arm lightly around her waist. 'What about trying your luck at one of the tables?'
    Ellis shook her head. 'No, thanks, Jake. I'm ready for bed.' She stifled a yawn smilingly. 'I'm not used to all this social life, you know.'
    `Well then, so long as you're not going to lie awake thinking of that fellow
    `I won't,' she assured him. 'I'll be asleep the minute my head touches the pillow.' To her relief he accepted that, saw her to the elevator, and kissed her lightly before she stepped into it.
    Later, in bed, she did lie awake—thinking of Paul as she always did, remembering his kisses, the excitement of being with him. For a while she fantasised about what might have happened if she had looked then as she did now—had owned all those pretty, glamorous clothes. They'd have been safely engaged before Jan came back—she wouldn't be here in Hobart in her present dilemma. She'd never have thought about working for a farmer on Flinders Island, never have written Steve Gascoyne that letter.
    Her mind wandered back to the night she had decided to write and offer to come and work for him. Paul had come to dinner that night, but as Jan's guest, not hers. Ellis had cooked the meal, as she always did, the main course being a particular favourite of Paul's—curried prawns, which Ellis made with cream and green peppers and ginger, and all sorts of delicate flavourings. Afterwards, alone in the kitchen, she had washed up
     
    the dishes while her uncle, who had his office at home, did some work and Jan and Paul sat in the softly lit sitting room, listening to music.
    Ellis knew better than to go and join them when she'd tidied the kitchen. Instead; she went out for a long walk, feeling very lonely and heartsick, and wishing she could run away. When she came back, Paul's car was still there, and she went straight upstairs to bed. But she found it impossible to sleep and at somewhere around two o'clock she had got out of bed and gone restlessly to the window. She saw Paul's car in the drive, and the soft rose glow of light falling through Jan's bedroom curtains, and she drew back, somehow shocked and full of despair. She had gone back to bed to lie rigid and sleepless. Paul had never come to her room—never ever suggested he should. And she wouldn't have allowed it—much as she loved him. Oh, never in a million years ! She was too, unsophisticated for him, she had thought bitterly. Now he had forgotten her—he thought only of Jan.
    Ellis had felt as if her heart would break.
    Then, gradually, her thoughts had moved from herself and her wretchedness to Steve Gascoyne, the man whom Jan had jilted so heartlessly. Was he now feeling as bereft and lonely and unhappy as she was, alone on his sheep station?
    Some mad impulse added to the sheer inability to sleep made her leave her bed again, switch on the reading light, and sit down and write him a letter. It had come to her almost without conscious thought that they could help each other, she and this farmer. She could never make up to him for the loss of Jan, just as he could never make up to her for the loss of Paul, but as they were both in the same situation they could help each other. She was desperate to get away from her
     
    uncle's house and the torture of seeing Jan and Paul together. A week with Jake would not be enough, she knew she couldn't come back here. And he—he would surely be only too grateful to have someone to look after his house, to cook for his shearers and so